NishiuraNightmare
by Sirack
Summary: "He wears the same hat and sweater Every single day And even if it's hot outside He wears it anywayHe's home when I'm awake But he shows up when I sleepI can't believe there's a nightmare On my street" Will Smith O3O Can you guess teh plot?
1. Izumi's Nightmares

"He wears the same hat and sweater

Every single day

And even if it's hot outside

He wears it anyway

He's home when I'm awake

But he shows up when I sleep

I can't believe there's a nightmare

On my street"

~ Will Smith

Pssssh, clank-cl-clank

Izumi could hear himself trying to catch his breath. Amidst the dark damp cellar, he knew was something he couldn't escape. The inevitable nightmare he knew would always be there.

Thunk-clank-pssssh…

There was that sound again, someone walking on the grate above him, followed by one of the numerous boilers hissing.

'Please, please this time let it be different, please!'

Izumi managed to maintain himself, but could feel his heart rate take off. The sound got closer, as if the owner of those heavy beating steps knew Izumi was afraid.

'No, I'm not afraid. I'm not!'

As much as he struggled to convince himself, the truth remained; he was afraid, almost indescribably. Nothing he said or did could change that fact.

SCCCCRAAAA

That all too familiar scraping, it grated painfully on his ears. Izumi couldn't take hiding in such a shameful crouched position any longer. As he ran the footsteps behind him increased, almost as if trying to make it seem like there was more than one pair. Down the stairs, passed boiler after boiler, there didn't seem to be an exit. Why not? It was HIS dream wasn't it? He should be able to do whatever he wanted, dammit!

"It's my dream!"

Izumi had stopped running after coming to a dead end. He turned, yelling out in no real direction. He just wanted to be loud enough to be heard.

"You hear me? It's MY dream!"

There was a moment of eerie silence as Izumi's voice echoed and faded. He was suddenly aware of a dark presence behind him, a sharp hand on his shoulder, and a foreboding voice in his ear. 

**"I don't think so, Kousuke**."

"Gah!"

"Whoa, you okay?"

Izumi jolted awake from his normal after lunch nap. Tajima was leaning over, staring at him with his huge brown eyes with his head tilted to one side.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Get your face outta my face."

He pushed Tajima away, trying to seem as nonchalant about it as possible but was really afraid that Tajima would be able to hear just how loud his heart was still pounding. The other, short boy simply shrugged, smiling a big goofy smile.

"Whatever. Hey, we're all gonna grab something to eat after practice, you coming?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Great! Man, you interrupted my nap with your yell, now I'm gonna have to sleep next period to catch up!"

Tajima sighed, rubbing his neck as he went back to his own desk. Hamada sat next to Izumi, shaking his head.

"That guy…so…was it another one of those dreams?"

Hamada looked over at Izumi, and even though he seemed genuinely worried, the brown haired boy couldn't help but think he saw a hint of a smirk in his expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine though."

"Well, okay, but remember that if you do need help…"

"Whatever, just go to class, Hamada."

Hamada got up as the bell rang, messing up Izumi's hair as he went by. _'I don't know what I'm going to do if this keeps up…these dreams are gonna kill me.' _He sighed as he sat up, touching his shoulder. He gently pulled down his shirt so he could see the skin underneath. Scratches…almost the same as the ones on his other shoulder. Izumi quickly pulled his sleeve back up, deciding to push it to the back of his mind.

"All right! Today I want you all to work in pairs, group work will come later."

"Right!"

All ten boys responded. They split up how they usually did, although Mizutani could tell something was wrong with Izumi.

"Izumi?"

"What?"

Izumi's response was sharper than he'd meant for it to be, and he mentally kicked himself for sounding so harsh.

"Uh, well, it's just that you seem, you know, kinda out of it, but never mind! "

Mizutani tried to smile, waving his hand in front of him. Izumi stared up at him for a moment before lowering his head.

"I haven't really been sleeping."

"Oh…that sucks."

"I know…"

There was an awkward silence; it seemed neither wanted to continue the conversation any farther, but Izumi knew that he really did. He wanted to tell someone other than Hamada, but didn't think Mizutani would be capable of carrying the burden. But then again, out of all people, Mizutani was the most likely to not get it. It'd be more like talking to a brick wall just to get the whole thing off his chest.

"I've been…having these nightmares."

Izumi sat down on the ground, crossing his legs Indian style as he rested an elbow on his knee. Mizutani mirrored his movement, sitting in front of him with what must have been Mizutani's attempt at a serious look.

"Hm, what kind of nightmares? Like, about clowns? I have those."

For a split second, Izumi thought Mizutani was joking, but looking up at the other's scared face realized that he wasn't.

"Uh, no, nothing like that."

"Then, what about drowning?"

"If you shut up and let me explain I'll tell you!"

"Oh right, sorry 'bout that."

"You see…they started a while ago…"

"When?"

Izumi was slightly taken aback by Mizutani's quick response, but answered without hesitating.

"About two weeks ago. I…read this article, okay? It was about some insane chick who claimed to not be able to sleep cause she would die."

"Like, a disease?"

"No, she said there was…this evil guy there, in her dreams, trying to kill her."

"That's scary."

"I didn't think so at first…but after looking at the article, it kinda freaked me out. The girl looked so…terrified. In the picture they were struggling to put her in an ambulance."

"An ambulance? Was she hurt?"

_'Wow'_ thought Izumi as he rolled his eyes.

"No, she was insane, they were taking her to a mental hospital, Mizutani."

"Oh, gotcha."

"Well, the next night, I dreamt of her."

"Whoa…really?"

Mizutani looked sudden uncomfortable. Izumi did NOT want to know what was going through his mind.

"It wasn't anything like that, dude."

"Uh, sure."

"It wasn't. She told me to run…from the evil guy I guess. But it killed her, at least I think it did, I woke up."

"It was just a dream-"

"But! The freaky thing is, I went to look her up the next week and they said she died in her sleep, the same night I had that dream!"

Mizutani shifted from one side of his leg to the other, obviously lost for words.

"Uh…I don't know, maybe it was a coincidence. What were you doing looking that up anyway?"

"I did it for a paper…it wasn't what I was looking for, but it distracted me and stuck in my head…"

"Well-"

"That's not all! Even since then…that evil guy….he stayed there, in my dream. It's almost like…he's stuck. But he doesn't care, after killing that girl all he wants to do is kill ME."

"…the others are starting to go to the field, we should go too."

Izumi felt slightly offended that Mizutani had ignored him, but assumed that it was because he didn't really understand. They joined the others, and Izumi suddenly remembered that there were supposed to have been stretching. _'Great, now I'm gonna be sore and sleepy…'_

After practice, the boys met outside the locker room, changed out of their uniforms. Although they all had bikes, Hanai suggested that they walk since they weren't going very far. Everyone agreed, although Izumi complained quickly to himself.

"Hey! Did you watch that show yesterday Mihashi?"

Tajima yelled from the back of the group before running up to join Mihashi.

"Uh, yeah."

"Did you like it? It's my favorite show! The main character is so hot!"

Mihashi looked slightly uncomfortable but nodded nervously.

"Hey, you talking about that one show?"

Mizutani smiled, pointing at Tajima.

"Yeah! With that one thing!"

"And that guy!"

Hanai glanced questioningly at Abe, who only raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Whatever they were talking about they certainly seemed to understand each other.

"What kind of show was it?"

Abe looked behind him at Mihashi, who jumped slightly but starting concentrating. He blinked several times before looking above him, trying to recall what the show had been about.

"Well?"

"It-It was about this girl…and, she, uh…she fights…monsters."

"Monsters?"

"Yeah! The main character's this blonde chick and she has like super demons powers! And she has this vampire friend guy, who's like-awesome!"

Tajima raised an arm excitedly, throwing it over Mihashi's shoulder.

"It's an old American show."

Izumi tiredly explained. Abe turned to glance at Izumi, acknowledging that he'd heard him. Hanai looked back when he heard Izumi talk.

"Hey, Izumi, you don't look so good, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine."

"You look like you need some sleep-"

"I said. I'm FINE."

The whole group quieted slightly, staring at Izumi, who only returned their looks with a glare.

"Uh…okay, whatever you say, man."

Hanai's eyes shifted nervously from Izumi to the ground. Izumi was a serious guy, sure, but he wasn't really mean, not really. He said he was fine, but they couldn't tell from the menacingly undertone in his voice that there was definitely something wrong. The silence remained until Tajima broke it with a rant about his favorite show and how much he loved the main character.

As they all sat outside the shop, each with their own snack, Tajima purposely sat beside Izumi. Izumi munched away at his sandwich, almost angrily.

"Hey."

Tajima tilted his head to get a better look at Izumi's face.

"What?"

With his cheeks full, Izumi sounded less angry, but still annoyed.

"You gonna tell me what's going on?"

Izumi hesitated, but sighed and quietly started telling Tajima all about his dreams and how he hadn't had much sleep because of them. A little ways down, Mihashi sat near Abe and Sakeguchi, eating his chips and every once in a while answering Abe's continuous questions.

"I wonder what's up with Izumi."

Abe shrugged, giving Sakeguchi a look that said he couldn't care less.

"We're gonna start heading back to school, you guys coming?"

Suyama came over, motioning with his thumb to Hanai and the others. Sakeguchi nodded, standing up as he put the rest of his snack in his mouth. All the boys slowly made their way back, stopping every once in a while when something random would catch Tajima's attention.

Pssssh, clank-cl-clank

'No, not again.'

This time, Izumi didn't wait, he immediately got up, running away from the hissing boilers and deathly whispers.

'There's gotta be a way out.'

He ran, this time there was an exit in sight. Just below the stairs. If he was fast enough he could make it. But where would he go after he made it? Where would he run?

'I don't care, ANYWHERE!'

He could hear his own heartbeat as he ran faster and faster, afraid that he might breathe too loud and be heard. He was practically there, he could touch the light coming from outside, but right when he was about to reach-

'Izumi, what's going on?'

A shocked and frightened looking Hamada stood right in front of the door, giving Izumi a blocked view of it as it disappeared.

'NO! Hamada, you IDIOT!'

'Izumi, what's going on? Where are we-are you-can you- no way! You can still do that thing you used to when we were younger, can't you?'

Izumi hurried started looking around for another exit.

'I don't know what you're talking about, Hamada, and keep quiet!'

'No, you did this a lot when we were little! You would bring me into your dreams! It usually happened when you had a nightmare…are you having a night-'

'No, I'm in this freakin' weird ass place cause it makes me happy!'

Izumi turned to Hamada, an uncharacteristic rage in his eyes. But the anger was just a cover up, just behind it Hamada could see the fear, the dark feeling that reached out of Izumi's dark blue eyes and out to him for help.

'Izumi, listen-'

'Hamada. Shut up.'

'Izumi, I wanna help, your dreams-'

'HAMADA. Shut up NOW. Please.'

Please? Hamada didn't even know Izumi had that word in his vocabulary. Then it struck him. The scared look in Izumi's eyes, telling him to be quiet. Hamada swallowed hard and slowly started to turn around.

'Is there something behind-"

'Hamada don't-!"

No!

Izumi shot straight up from his bed, not sure if he'd really yelled out loud or not.

_'Oh no, Hamada.'_

"Mom, I need the phone!"

Izumi leaped up, running to his living room as fast as his legs would carry him. His mother tiredly came out from her room.

"Kousuke, it's two in the morning, who could you possibly need to call so bad?"

"Don't worry about it, mom!"

Izumi practically ripped the phone from its stand, dialing quickly before shoving the receiver to his ear.

_'Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up!'_

His breathing was still shallow and too quick for him to fully catch his breath. He could hear his heart pounding tiredly, trying to keep up with the thoughts running through his head.

"Y-yes?"

"Hamada!"

"Izumi? …what the hell kind of dreams have you been having?"

"Look, I'll explain later, but, I-I want you to know I'm…I'm sorry…"

There was a strange silence, but Izumi could hear Hamada's pained gasps from the other side of the phone. Izumi bent over the phone, lowering his voice.

"Did…did he hurt you?"

"…I gotta go."

"Wait, Hamada-"

A loud dial tone interrupted Izumi as if mocking him. _'Dammit Hamada, what happened to you?'_


	2. Hamada's Nightmares Begin

_'Hamada, Hamada, PLEASE be ok, please be ok.'_

Izumi quickly ran up the stairs to his class, silently praying that Hamada would be there. He sat eagerly in his normal seat. When he didn't see Hamada in his seat his heart skipped a beat.

_'Oh no, no, come on Hamada!'_

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he focused all his energy into staring at the classroom door, waiting for the next person to come through. Slowly, the class started to fill up, but there was no sign of Hamada.

_'Crap…I killed him! That's it, I killed him! Dammit!'_

"Sorry I'm late."

"Ah, that's fine, take your seat Hamada."

The teacher nodded toward the back of the class as Hamada took his seat. Izumi was so relieved that it was clearly plain on his face. He turned and was about to try and talk to his friend, but paused when he saw the state he was in. He looked pale, and he had new bags under his eyes. The look in his eyes was one Izumi new all too well, the look of having seen something you weren't meant to.

Izumi kept trying to get a chance to talk to Hamada alone, but there was always someone else there, Tajima, Mihashi, even Abe. It felt as if everything was collaborating against him. Needless to say he didn't get any more sleep that night, so he was even more irritable than he had been yesterday.

"And then! This guy busted through the wall and he was like "HYOOO!", it was amazing!"

Tajima blabbered away about some TV he'd stayed up last night to watch. Mihashi was eagerly listening, chomping away at a small sandwich. Hamada was participating in the conversation like normal but…although he was smiling, he didn't seem happy. Izumi felt guilty, he knew he used to somehow pull people in his dreams when he was younger, but he had no idea he still could. But, like Hamada had said, he only did it when he had nightmares. It was slightly embarrassing that he would get so scared that he would pull someone into his dream like that.

"Nap time!"

Tajima yelled at the top of his lungs before clonking out at the desk he was sitting at. Mihashi followed, slumping over tiredly. Izumi paused, looking at Hamada, hesitating. He wanted to ask him, but wasn't sure how.

"…Hamada."

"Izumi…what kind of dreams have you been having?"

Hamada looked up at Izumi, a terrified gleam in his eyes. He lifted his shirt slightly, showing three very dangerous looking slashes across his stomach. Hamada glanced down at his own stomach before moving his gaze back up to meet Izumi's eyes. There was a heart dropping silence between the two boys before Hamada pulled his shirt back down.

"Uhh…I…I'm sorry."

"I want to help you Izumi, even though I'm still mad that you pulled me away from my dream about that one swimsuit model, what's her name-?"

"Look, Hamada, we can't tell anyone."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't tell Tajima, or Mihashi, or ANYONE, ok? I don't want them worrying."

Hamada seemed to struggle with the idea, but eventually nodded.

"Fine, but you've got some quick explaining to do! Who was that, why are you dreaming about him, and WHY is he trying to kill you?"

Izumi sighed tiredly.

"Kousuke, honey you don't look too good."

"I'm fine mom."

"You look like you haven't slept in days. You're not staying up too late are you?"

Izumi's mother sat across from him at the table, nervously picking at her food while giving him a worried gaze.

"No, I'm fine."

She didn't look convinced, but his mom looked down at her food, gently stabbing it with her fork.

"Mmm, well, it's just, mom…. I can't."

"Hm? Can't? Are you having trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep?"

"Urgh, uh…both, I guess. I can't because…it's dangerous."

Mrs. Izumi stared at her son for a while before letting out a small laugh, a laugh that sounded scared and awkward at the same time.

"Oh, Kousuke you say the funniest things sometimes."

"Y-yeah…"

Izumi continued to eat his meal, keeping his head down. He knew what he would dream about that night, as soon as he fell asleep…HE'D be waiting. Although, Izumi wasn't sure if Hamada being there made him more upset or relieved. Sure, he'd have help, but, it also meant showing Hamada a weaker side of him that he didn't like others seeing; it was frustrating.

Izumi reluctantly got ready for bed, staring at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. He could barely recognize himself. He looked like he had just gotten into a fight with a tornado, tired, sick, and malnourished. It was hard to stay awake, but he just couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. The rhythmic feel of the toothbrush in his mouth resounded in Izumi's ears, lulling him into a zoned out state.

_"Kousuke."_

A menacingly deep voice sprung Izumi back into consciousness. Had he fallen asleep? But, it couldn't have been for more than a few seconds, that wouldn't be enough time for him to start dreaming, could it?


End file.
